Rochester, NY – The Ephs returned to competition at the RIT Invitational today following a two-week hiatus and
finished fourth in a field of 16 teams. Six Williams wrestlers made the medal stand and three picked up their first collegiate wins.
Joseph Rossetti stole the show with a first place finish at 149 lbs.. Rossetti, the one seed, cruised to the final with three decisive victories – a 15-0 tech fall, 9-1 major decision, and 2:08 pin – before defeating RIT's Mike Glynn by a 6-1 decision. Coach
Scott Honecker praised Rossetti's performance: "[He] really led the way for us today. He really took it to each of his opponents. That's setting a great example for our younger guys."
Scotty Richter built on his impressive debut in Springfield two weeks ago with a third-place finish in the 133 lbs. division. Richter, seeded fourth, went 5-1, pinning two opponents along the way. Honecker believes that "Richter is really poised for a breakout. He made great decisions in his matches and limited his mistakes. It's good to see some consistency out of him in his second performance as an Eph."
Thomas Goodwin, seeded third today, secured a fifth-place finish in the 285 lbs. division. He went 3-2 with two of his wins being pins. Honecker commended Goodwin on another strong performance, noting that "he doesn't wrestle like a heavyweight, but he certainly fights like one. He does really well creating scores in the exchanges."
Jack Murphy rebounded from a loss in his first match of the day with four consecutive wins in the consolation bracket, earning himself a sixth-place finish in the 149 lbs. division. Honecker was proud of how Murphy responded today after a tough season opener in Springfield: "He didn't lose faith in himself and he is solving some of the problems he had in our last outing. He competed like a thoroughbred this weekend and I am really glad he got results that were commensurate with all his hard work."
Will Smith, the four seed, went 5-1, finishing sixth in the 184 lbs. division. Honecker emphasized that "Smith is a game fighter [and] his next step is putting some distance in between himself and his competition." Honecker commended Smith for "[finding] ways to win in his close ones" today – one of which was decided by sudden victory.
Albert Xing, seeded fifth, finished with a 4-2 record and sixth place in the 157 lbs. division. Honecker has been impressed by Xing so far this season, commenting that he "has jumped levels since before COVID. He wasn't routinely placing in tournaments as a freshman, and now with back-to-back podiums he has set a new standard for himself."
Tim Brown,
Elias Chen, and
Noe Romero each picked up their first wins in the Purple and Gold.
Brown stacked two wins together in the heavyweight division's consolation bracket, Chen won a nail-biter on a 7-6 decision in the 184 lbs. consolation bracket, and Romero put together two wins in the 125 lbs. consolation bracket. They will look to build on this success going forward.
The Ephs will travel south to Hartford next Saturday, December 11
th for their first dual meet of the season and final bout of 2021, a 7:30 pm clash with Trinity College.
